Device for illumination



Nov..

DEVICE FOR ILLUMINATION Original Filed March ll, 1954 INVENTOR,

DL/ARD EM/)Nl/EL .SHELDON A TTa/Qn/Ey www? I Nov-oww @M5315 15, 196 E. E.. sl-IELDON 3,286,087

DEVICE FOR ILLUMINATION Original Filed March 1l, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 0V. m w@ E. E2. sn-IELDQN DEVICE FOR ILLUMINATION Original Filed March l1, 1954 :5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

0 man LEMA/wa .SHELMA/ B 3 Ufff ATTJPN y United States Patent O 3,236,687 DEVICE FUR ILLUMINATIQN Edward Emanuel Sheldon, 30 E. 40th St., New York, N.Y.

riginal applications Mar. 11, 1954, Ser. No. 415,669, now Patent No. 2,377,368, dated Mar. 10, 1959, and Feb. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 170,745, now Patent No. 3,205,390, dated Sept. 7, 1965. Divided and this application May 8, 1964, Ser. No. 366,038

9 Claims. (Cl. 2ML-2.18)

This invention relates to the novel instrument for examination of the interior of the parts, channels or passages which are inaccessible to the examiner, and represents a division of my copendng application Ser. No. 170,745 led on February 2, 1962, now US. Patent No. 3,205,390 and represents a division of the patent application Serial No. 415,669 tiled March 11, 1954, now U.S. Patent No. 2,877,368. Due to the inability of light to see around the corners, the present instruments used for such examination have to be straight and rigid so that the eye of the examiner and the examined part are in one straight line. The instruments using optical lenses or prisms will not help in the situation when the shape and the size of the examined part is variable and unknown in advance. In such a case, the position of the curves and angulations in the examined parts or passages is unknown and therefore the lenses or prisms cannot be positioned to anticipate deviations of the axis of the examined channel from the straight line.

The purpose of this invention is to provide means for inspection of inaccessible channels, such as hollow parts of machinery or of other inaccessible tortuous passages. My device may be introduced inside of a part which cannot be inspected visually without dismantling or destroying the whole machine and will transmit the image of said part to the observer outside of said part. My invention will be especially useful for the examination of coils and pipes or other curved structures. My device can `be also used as a probe to be inserted into a solid object and to transmit information about its internal structure.

Another objective of my invention is to intensify the image ot the examined internal parts or passages so that the final image will be presented to the observer with the luminosity facilitating inspection of said image.

Another purpose of my invention is to enable simultaneous observation of said inaccessible parts by many examiners, situated in close or remote locations, which was not possible until now.

Another objective of this invention is to change, decrease or amplify the contrast ot the image of the examined part.

The objectives of my invention were realized by a novel device which is liexible to allow its introduction into the examined part regardless of its curvatures or angulations and which after its introduction into the examined part will produce a light image of said part, will next convert said light image into video signals and will transmit said video signals outside of said part. Video signals are reconverted in receivers outside of the examined part into visible images for inspection or recording. My intrascopic device can produce black and white images, as well as multicolor images, showing faithfully or arbitrarily the colors of the examined part.

In particular this novel device makes use of a television pick-up tube consisting of two separate independent elements which can be introduced separately into the examined part and which after introduction work in cooperation as a television camera. As each of these two separate elements is smaller in size than any conventional television camera can be made, this novel television 3,286,087 Patented Nov. 15, 1966 ICS camera can be introduced into locations which because of small size or tortuous shape of passages leading to them, were inaccessible to the most miniaturized television cameras known in the art.

Another marked improvement in my novel television camera is elimination of magnetic deilecting coils which are bulky and occupy so much space that even a small television tube using them cannot be introduced into narrow passages. The use of conventional electrostatic dellecting system results into a marked distortion of images especially in piclcup tubes using the slow scanning electron beam, These drawbacks are eliminated in my intrascope and therefore in spite of its very small size it is capable of producing images of a good denition and contrast.

In some applications even this novel intrascope utilizing a pick-up tube divided into two separate independent elements cannot be introduced into Very narrow or tortuous passages. In such cases I am using a novel image conductor in combination with my television pick-up tube. The novel image conductor consists of a llexible guide of material having a high index of refraction and critical angle of rellection which prevents the escape of the light from said guide. The novel image conductor may be made of any desired size or shape and therefore it can penetrate the most inaccessible locations and can transmit the image therefrom to the television pick-up tube or directly to the outside to the observer.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l represents a partially sectioned View of the novel intrascope:

FIGURES la, 1b and lc show a modification of the intrascope;

FIGURE 1d shows an intrascope with a simplified tele- Vision camera tube;

FIGURE 2 shows a combination of light image conductor with a television pick-up tube;

FIGURES 2a and 2b represent a modification of the combination comprising an image conductor and a pick-up tube;

FIGURE 3 represents a modified embodiment of my intrascope provided with image conductor;

FIGURE 3a represents a modilication of my intrascope in which image conductor is in contact with the distal end of the intrascope;

FIGURES 4 and 5 represent a simplied intrascope provided with a light image conductor; and

FIGURE 6 represents an embodiment of my intrascope provided with an image amplifying tube.

The new device which may be called the intrascope 1 is shown in FIGURE 1. The handle 2 is a hollow tube of diameter corresponding to the examined part. The handle may be rigid or semi-flexible or completely flexible according to the part to be examined. At the end of the handle begins the exible part 2a of the intrascope which also has width and length suitable for the size of the examined part. In case the introscope is used for examination of fragile part, the part 2a must be very ilexible and pliable in order to avoid damage to the wall of the examined part. The `basic feature of the material for the exible part of the intrascope is therefore that it must be easily bent and molded by the walls of the passages in which it is being introduced. Such material m-ay be a suitable plastic, or rubber 26 of the type used by Davol Rubber Company of Providence, Rhode Island for their gastric tubes. In case the intrascope is used for investigation of sturdy parts or of machinery the part 2a may be obviously more rigid. The tiexible part 2a of the intrascope may be in such a case made of the stainless steel spiral sheet designed not only for durability but also to maintain the proper degree of flexibility and elasticity. The metal spiral is tapered to insure its uniform bending. The intrascope may be covered with an outer tubing 26a such as of neoprene. This prevents dust particles and moisture from effecting the optical and pick-up system loc-ated inside of the intrascope. At the end of the flexible part there is a semi-flexible tip 3 which may be screwed on the flexible part and can be easily removed giving thereby access to the inner structures of the intrascope. The tip consists of a rubber conical linger and serves to facilitate the gliding of the intrascope within the examined part. In order to facilitate the introduction of the intrascope into parts which have no curves my device can be made semi-rigid by inserting into it a semi-rigid stilet. In case the intrascope is used as a probe for insertion into a solid object the tip 3 should be preferably rigid and sharply pointed to be able to pierce the examined object.

In some cases the examined part has to be distended by air or fluid insulilation prior to the examination. A special air pump attachment 44 and a channel 44a in the intrascope is provided for this purpose. The channel 44a also may serve to evacuate contents of the examined part before examination to improve visibility. The knob 45 on the proximal end of the intrascope serves to indicate to the examiner the position of windows 12 and 18 of the intrascope. In some cases the layer 26 should be of a dielectric material to prevent any short-circuits.

In the distal end of the flexible part of the intrascope there is a housing box 5 containing the illumination system 7. The box 5 may also lbe attached to the inner walls of the intrascope by means of the brackets or may be held by springs. It is obvious that there are many means for attachment of the box 5 which are well kn-own in the art. All walls of the housing box 5 except the one facing the television pick-up tube 16 are provided with windows for transmission of the light from the illuminating system 7. These windows are correlated with the windows 12 in the flexible part of the intrasc-ope which transmit the light from the illuminating system to the examined part. In some cases the windows 12 may be made to extend `over the circumference of the intrascope. In some cases the window to transmit illumination from the light source to the examined part may also be provided in the distal end of the intrascope instead of being in its side walls, and in such case the tip may be made of transparent material or may be omitted. Windows 12 may be provided with shutters which can be controlled 4from the proximal end of the intrascope which is outside of the examined part.

The illuminating system may consist of the electrical bulb 7. The electrical bulb may be mounted in the housing box 5 by means of a socket 7a. In some cases it is advantageous to use the objective lens 11 between the light bulb and window 12 in order to concentrate the light on one field. The lens may be held in position by brackets 11a. The light bulb is activated by the source of electrical power 9 situated outside of the examined part. Such a source may be the commercial electrical current or battery of dry cells. The flexible electrical cable 8 leads from the socket 7a to said -outside source of electrical current 9. The cable is a lacquered, double insulated electric wire, is covered in addition with liquid rubber and is vulcanized in order to prevent a short circuit. The housing unit 5 may be in some cases omitted and the light source may be attached to the socket 7a which is held by brackets.

In the flexible part 2a proximally to the housing box 5, there is a rigid non-transparent housing compartment 14 containing the optical system 15 and the novel television pick-up tubes 16a and 16b. The housing 14 has an opening 17 in which the optical system 15 is lodged and which serves to admit the image of the examined part. This opening is correlated with lWindows 18 in the flexible part of the intrascope which transmit the image of the examined part. In some cases the windows 18 may be made to extend over all the circumference of the intrascope. The windows 18 may be provided with shutters operated from the proximal end of the intrascope which is externally to the examined part. The housing 14 containing the television pick-up tubes 16a and 1619 and the optical system may 'be attached to the inner wall of the flexible part 2a of the intrascope by means of brackets or may be held by springs 27a. As the housing box fits into the encasing holding member 26 and is held by it tightly, in some cases no additional supporting means such as springs `are necessary.

The optical system 15 may consist of 90 gable prism 20 yand -o-f lens 21. The -optical system may have its own housing unit instead of being ledged in the compartment 14 land may be then introduced into the intrascope separately.

In some cases it is desirable to have a large field of vision and at the same time to preserve the necessary magnification of the examined part. In such a case instead of the prism 20 a rotating mirror should be used. The mirror has iirst surface coating which eliminates the rellections and is activiated by the magnetic solenoid placed beneath the mirror. The solenoid is connected by the elastic cable with the controls outside of the examined part and can tip the mirror from the retrograde position to the forward position giving thereby an additional field of vision without the necessity of moving the intrascope. The image of the examined part is reflected by the mirror on the objective lens which focuses said image on the photocathode of the novel television pick-up tube 16b described below. In case the magnification off the examined part is not necessary a large field of vision can be obtained by using the lens providing field of vision instead of the usual 45-50". The image produced by the optical system is inverted but it can be reverted to the original position either by an additional lens or electron-optically in the viewing tube. The rotating mirror may also serve t-o admit image either throng-h windows 18 or 18a without rotating the Whole camera 16.

The housing box 14 contains the novel miniature television camera 16 which was designed to reduce to the minimum the size of the television camera. The television pick-up tubes known previously in the art could be miniaturized only to a certain degree, which was not sufficient in certain applications as some of the examined parts and too small to allow the introduction even of the smallest conventional pick-up tube. This is true especially for the type of tubes having external deflecting coils such as of magnetic or electro-magnetic type, and in such situations, my novel camera 16 will be very suitable as it does not require any external deflecting or focusing coils at all. The camera 16 consists of two vacuum tubes 16a and 16b. The tube 16a has an electron gun 2S which produces an electron beam 29. The electron beam 29 is focused by electrostatic eld 30. The electron-optical system for focusing the electron beam 29 may be simplified and markedly reduced in length by using the unipotential electrostatic lens instead of the usual two-lens system. The electron beam 29 is deflected by electro-static plates 30a and 3011 in two perpendicular to each other planes. The electrostatic plates are energized by signals from saw-tooth generators 32 which are situated outside of the examined part. The generators 32 `are connected with electro-static plates 30a and Stlb by means of exible wires. One deecting field is produced by the horizontal deflection plates 30a and may have line frequency such as 545,000 cycles per second. Another detlecting eld is provided by the vertical deection plates y10b and may have field frequency such as 15-60 cycles per second. In this Way the electron beam 29 is made to scan the fluorescent screen 31 in a regular television raster. The deflection system may be further simplified and miniaturized by having only horizontal deflection plates 30a. The vertical deliections 30b are eliminated and the vertical deflection of the liuorescent light spot is provided by the rotating drum 71 with plural mirrors 72 as shown in FIGURE ld. The fluorescent screen 31 may be provided with electron transparent metallic conducting backing layer 31a such as of aluminum. The fluorescent screen 31 must be of a phosphor of a very short persistence in order to obtain a good resolution of the image. ZnO has decay time of 1 micro-second and is suitable for this purpose. Still better results may be obtained by means of ZnS phosphor and using only ultra-violet component of its fluorescent emission which has decay time of 1&0 microsecond. In some cases, it is preferable to make the fluorescent screen 31 of semi-spherical curved shape as it will improve definition of the flying light spot. The iiuorescent layer 31 may also be deposited on the supporting mesh screen instead of being deposited on the wall of the vacuum tube. This will improve definition of the flying light spot.

The vacuum tube 16a operates in combination with the vacuum tube 16h forming together the novel television camera 16. The vacuum tube lob has a photoemissive electrode 33 which may be deposited or attached to one of the walls of said vacuum tube. In some cases it is preferable to provide a light transparent conducting layer 33h such as of material known in the trad-e as Nesa, or of compounds of tin or of cadmium, on the side of said photoemissive electrode 33 facing the iluorescent screen 31. The photoemissive electrode 33 may be of CsOAg or or of caesium, lithium or rubidium on antimony, 1Gb there is provided photocathode 34 which consists of a light transparent signal plate 34a, a light transparent insulating layer 34h and of a photoemissive mosaic 34C. The signal plate 34a may be a thin transparent layer of metal or other conducting material. The insulating layer 34b may be of mica, silica, or other transparent dielectric material and photo emissive mosaic 34e may be of CsOAg or of caesium, rubidium or lithium on antimony, arsenic or bismuth. iIn some cases the photoemissive layer 34e may be, instead of a mosaic, also of continuous type. In cases in which electrostatic focusing iield 23 is used to focus the scanning electron beam 33a on the mosaic 34.1, much better resolution will be obtained by making such mosaic of a curved semispherical shape. In addition, the use of such spherically shaped photocathode will eliminate instability of the image which is very marked when using electrostatic fields for focusing a slow electron beam.

The light image of the examined part, is projected by the optical system on the photocathode 34 of the vacuum tube 16b. The light ima-ge produces emission of photoelectrons from the layer 34C. As a result a positive charge image having the pattern of said light image is left on the photoemissive mosaic 34e. Both vacuum tubes 16a and Mb are held in apposition to each other and in such a manner that the uorescent screen 31 of the vacuum tube 16a is adjacent to the photoemissive electrode 33 of the tube 16b. The scanning electron beam 29 impinging on the iiuorescent screen 31 produces a light spot at each point of its impingement. The scanning illumination excites the photoemissive electrode 33 and produces thereby a ne scanning beam of photoelectrons 33a. The photoelectron beam 33a is of the scanning type because it is produced by the scanning electron beam 29. The photoelectron beam 33a may be further focused by electrostatic elds 23. In some cases the photoemissive electrode 33 and the mosaic 34 are disposed so close to each other that the focusing iields may be eliminated which will further reduce the size of the vacuum tube 16b. When the focusing elds are omitted I found that separation of electrode 33 and mosaic 34 should not exceed 0.25 millimeter.

In a vacuum tube 16b instead 0f 4the photoemissive mosaic I may also use a photoconductive photocathode such as shown below in FIGURE 2b. The photoconductive photocathode comprises a conducting signal plate 34a which is connected to the circuit producing video signals and a photoconductive layer 34e deposited thereon las shown in FIGURE 2b. The photoconductive layer may be of selenium, zinc selenide or of antimony sulfide or of other photoconducting materials.

Another important modication of -the vacuum tube 16b was accomplished by eliminating the photoemissive electrode 33. In this embodiment of invention as shown in tube in FIGURE 1c, .the fluorescent light scans directly the photoemissive mosaic 34e. The emission of photoelectrons from the photoemissive mosaic 34e produces signals lin the capacitatively coupled signal plate 34a. These signals are converted into video signals in the manner Well known in the art.

In examination of stationary objects my intra-scope may be further simplified by using as a source of scanning light instead of a vacuum tube 16a, a steady source of light such as an electrical bulb 74 in combination with an oscillating mirror 73 or rotating drum as shown in FIGURE 1c. The oscillating mirror or drum is limited in frequency of oscillations therefore video signals produced by this device must be stored until the whole image is assembled. It is also possible to use instead of a storage tube for video signals, a received tube such as a kinescope having a memory screen such as dark trace screen. Also a facsimile receiver can be used for this purpose. The pick-up tube 75 may be also simplified by eliminating the electrode 33 as was explained above. The oscillating mirror may be mounted on a pivot and may be energized -by solenoid through which the current of high frequency is flowing. One set of coils serve to move the mirror in horizontal axis. Another set of coils is vibrating the mirror on vertical axis. The action of both coils makes the mirror oscillate in such a manner that the light reflected by said mirror will scan the area on which it is projected in the same manner as the flying spot which is produced by a cathode-ray tube. The construction of an oscillating mirror is well known in the art and it is believed therefore that its further detailed description will only serve to complicate the drawings.

The electron beam 33a may be of high velocity such as used in the iconoscope type of television pick-up tubes or may be of a slow velocity. In this embodiment of my invention, I use the slow scanning electron beam. It is to be understood however that the fast scanning electron beam may be used in my invention as well. The electron beam 33a scanning across the charge image stored in the mosaic 34e converts said image into electrical signals which appear at the signal plate 34a. These electrical signals can be converted into video signals over the resistance inthe manner well known in the art. The video signals are transmitted by the flexible coaxial cable 43 from the intrascope within the examined part to the video ampliers 43a outside of said part. The amplified signals are transmitted from the amplifiers to the viewing tube of kinescope type 37 and are reconstructed therein into the visible image representing the image of the examined part. The viewing tube may 'be of kinescope type and does not have to `be described in detail as it is well known in the art. The examined part will appear on the fluorescent screen 37a of the viewing tube where it can be inspected by many examiners. Transmission of the image from the amplifier 43a to the viewing tube can be done by coaxial cable 43 or by high frequency waves. The image can be sent therefore not only to the immediate, but also to the remote receivers or may be transmitted to multiple independent viewing tube for the benet of many examiners which was one of the objectives of this invention. The image on the viewing tube 37 may also be photographed simultaneously with the intrascope examination in order to make a permanent record which was another purpose of this invention.

The contrast of the reproduced image may be changed, diminished or increased according to the needs of particular examination by using ampliers provided with variable ma tubes, or by the use of kinescope in which gamma can be controlled. The signal to noise ratio of this system and therefore the definition of the reproduced image may be improved by using in amplifiers discriminating circuits which reject signals below the predetermined amplitude and eliminate therefore most of the noise signals. 'Ihe coaxial Cable 43 within the examined part may be encased in the above described means 26 or 2da for inserting the intrascope or may be attached to them.

The voltage for the operation of the tubes 16a and 1Gb are supplied through the exi'ble elastical wires 8a from the source of the electrical power 9 outside of the examined part. In .the same way the horizontal and vertical synchronizing circuits, focusing fields and deflecting circuits are supplied with electrical energy from the outside source of power 9. The synchronizing and deflecting circuits and lfocusing fields are not described in detail as they are Well known in vthe art and it is believed they would only complicate the drawings. In some cases the coaxial cable 43 may be outside of said inserting means 26 or 26a.

The housing 14 containing the television camera can be rotated in its position in the intrascope, so that the optical system 15 can be made to face the window 18 or 18a and to see thereb,I various areas of the circumference of the examined part. The rotation of the camera can be accomplished by means of a pusher 15a which tits into extensions b of the box 14. The rotation of the camera may be preferable in some cases to the rotation of the whole intrascope which allows to accomplish the same purpose.

The main rigid portion of the flexible intrascope is the television camera 16. Therefore the shorter the television camera is, the easier it will be for the intrascope to pass through sharply angulated or curved passages. One of the advantages of the novel pick-up tube 16 is that it makes it possible to break up the smallest pick-up tube into two component parts such as tubes 16a and 16b and introduce each of said tubes into the examined part separately, reducing thereby considerably the rigid portion of the intrascope which is due to the television camera, as shown in FIGURE la.

To accomplish these objectives the flexible intrascope 1a is introduced first into the examined part while containing only the box 5 housing the light source 7. Inside of the intrascope la, shown in FIGURE 1a p-roximally to the box 5 there is a ringlike partition which .serves as a stop 27 for the pick-up tube 1Gb which is tobe introduced later. It is obvious that the shape of this stop may vary. The rest of the intrascope 1a is empty. The intrascope 1a is introduced first into the examined part. As the -only rigid part of the intrascope is now the box 5 which is very small, this intrascope can easily pass even through very narrow and curved passages. After the intrascope 1a has been introduced into the examined part for a desired distance which can be read easily on the markings provided on the outside wall of the intrascope, the next step begins. Now the housing box 14b in which the vacuum pick-up tube 16h is mounted is introduced into the intrascope. The housing box 1417 is pushed into the intrascope, until it reaches the stop 27, which can be also ascertained by the X-.ray control. The box 14h may be held against the stop 27 by spring extensions 27a, as shown in FIGURE l, on said stop 2'7. The housing lbox 1417 may be pushed into its position by a flexible elastic guide a which is fitted into the proximal end of the housing box Mb. For this purpose the housing box 14b is provided with a `ringlike extension 10a :at its base which has spring-like properties. The head of the flexible pusher 15a lits into this extension and is kept in position by it. The flexible pusher 15a may also be provided with electrical coils da at its distal end which is adjacent to the element to be introduced into the intrascope. The coils 6a are connected to the source of electrical power situated outside of the examined part. In this way, the head of the pusher may be given electromagnetic properties by closing the circuit, energizing said coils 6a. The pusher 15a will be held therefore in the elements to be introduced into the intrascope, such as boxes 14a, leb or the optical system 15, not only by the mechanical pressure of the extensions 10a, or lilb, but by magnetic attraction as well. When the pusher 15a is to be withdrawn, the current supplying the coils 6a is shut off. To facilitate the guiding of the box llb into the intrascope, a set of threads 86, 4as shown in FIGURE lb may be used which are at one end lattached to the stop 27, and which are threaded through the perforations in the extensions 87 of the housing box 14b. After the box 14b has been introduced into its proper position in the intrascope, the pusher 15a is removed. Another set of threads 39 is attached to the extensions 88 in the housing unit 14b and serves to pull out said box 14b to the exterior of the examined part when the examination is finished. This arrangement is shown in FIGURE 1b.

The housing box may be omitted in some cases and the tube 1612 may be introduced into the intrascope without any housing and will be held in position by the same means yas described above for holding the box 14b.

After the box 14b= with the tube 16b has lbeen introduced, the box 14a housing the tube 16a is introduced now into the intrascope in a similar manner as was described above. Both boxes Mb and 14o have openings at their proximal and distal ends respectively, which makes it possible to bring the fluorescent screen 31 of the tube 15a in close apposition to the photoemissive electrode 33 in the tube 16b. The boxes 14a and 14b are provided with mechanical means f-or securing a good contact of the proximal end of the tube 16h with the distal end of the tube 16a. One Way of providing such ya contact is to make the compartment 14a t inside of the spring-like flange 27a at the proximal end of the compartment 14h. The housing box 14a contains vacuum tube 16a which has been described above. The housing box 14a is provided with spring-like extensi-ons 10b which serve tol accommodate the head of the pushing guide 15a.

The housing box 14a is pushed into the intrascope until it reaches the position of the stop 27 b. This can be also checked by the X-ray control. The stop 2'7b is so situated that when the housing box 14a reaches it the tubes 1Gb and 16a will be in apposition toeach other. In some cases llexible coils which can be converted into magnets by passing through them an alternating current from an outsi-de source of electrical power may be provided on the stops 27 and 27 b or at extensions 10a or 1Gb of the intrascope to help the positioning of boxes 14a and 14b. In this way the rigid portion of the intrascope which has to pass through a narrow passage or acute curvature is now only `a fraction of the rigid part of intrascopes which use even the smallest pick-up tube of conventional type. This represents an important improvement as it makes it possible to introduce the intrascope into parts which were not accessible previously to examination.

It should be understood that all my intrascopes can serve for producing and transmitting color images as well. The color system may be of mechanical type such as using a color wheel, or may be of electronic type, such as `using `an optical system to split the light image into its component colors and to project them on television pickup system.

In some applications even my novel intrascope device cannot be introduced through the narrow or angulated passages. For such cases I designed a novel apparatus which will overcome even to 360 bends in passages. FIGURE 2 shows this embodiment of my invention. The intrascope 50 is provide-d with la novel ima-ge conductor 51. The image conductor 51 consists of multiple fibers of material having a high refractive index such -as quartz, rutile or special plastics. In many applications the image conduct-or must be flexible and easily malleable. In such cases acrylic plastics such as Lucite or polysterenes may be used. Especially Lucite is suitable for this purpose because it causes smaller losses of conducted light than deseos? other materials. Lucite `and other above mentioned materials characterized by `a high refractive index have the property of internal reflection of the flight conducted by them. Such materials cannot conduct a whole image as such but they can conduct well a light signal, it means an image point. The size of the image point I found is determined by the diameter of a single conducting liber 52. In my image conductor I assembled a bundle of such fibers which form mosaic-like end-faces and which therefore lcan conduct plurality of image points. All these image points will reproduce at the other end-face of the image conductor the original image provided that the image conducting fibers remain in their original spatial relationship. Each fiber S2 should have, as was explained above, a diameter corresponding to the size of one image point. The diameter o-f 0.1 millimeter is well suitable for the purposes of my invention. In order to conduct an image of an area, eg. of one square centimeter we must have many fibers 52, the number of fibers being dependent on the resolution of reproduced image that we desire. If the resolution of the conducted image should be 4 lines per millimeter, and if the image is of one square centimeter in size, we will need 40 fibers of 0.25 millimeter in diameter. As in many examinations it is not practical to be limited to the field of 1 cm2, I preferably use a few hundred of such fibers combined in one ima-ge conductor, which will allow to transmit an image of a large area.

The light conducting fibers should be polished on their external surface very exactly. They may be also preferably coated with a very thin light opaque layer which should have a lower index of refraction than the light conducting liber itself. Such coating may have a thickness of only a few microns. I found a great improvement of flexibility of the light conductor S1 can be obtained by having the light conducting fibers 52 glued together only at their end-faces 51a `and Slb. This is a very important feature of my device because the main requirement from the light conductor S1 is its Flexibility and malleability. If the fibers 52 .are `glued together along their entire length the flexibility and malleability is so much reduced that it may be not possible to use it in many examinations in which the walls or passages are fragile and may be damaged by a rigid instrument. I found unexpected-ly that having the conducting fibers 52 free along their path between the end-faces will not cause any deterioration of the conducted image. I found that in spite of the fact that fibers between their end surfaces were freely movable there was no blurring of the conducted image. It must be understood however that the fibers 52 at both end-faces of the conductor 51 must rigidly maintain their spatial relationship. Another important feature of this construction is that the diameter of the light conductor 51 can be now increased because no space consuming binder or glue is present between the fibers 52 except at their end-faces. Instead of using the binder at the endfaces of bers 52, they may also be held together at their end-faces by a tine mesh screen. Each liber is threaded through one opening of said mesh screen and is being held by said screen in constant position.

It may be -added that smaller losses of light may be obtained if the fibers 52 are hollow inside instead of being solid. An improvement in contrast of conducted images can be obtained by coating light conducting fibers 52 with an opaque material which eliminates the leakage of light from one fiber to the adjacent one.

The number of fibers that can be used in many examinations will be limited by the diameter of the passages through which my intrascope has to pass. As in many situations the channel may be only 1-2 cm. wide it will be impossible to use a great number of fibers. I succeeded to overcome this limitation, by using in combination the light conductor 51 with a demagnifying optical system 53. By the use of the -demagnitfying optical system I can reduce the examined held to the diameter of the image conductor 5l. If the optical system will demagnify the image five times, I can examine the field having 25 cm.2 with the image conductor having the diameter of only l cm?. This combination represents a very important feature of my invention as it is not always practical or feasible to limit the examined field only to the diameter of the image conductor. An other important feature of my optical system 53 is that it allows to proiect the image on the end-face 51a of the light image conductor from which it can be transmitted to the other end of the conductor. If the image were projected on the side of the conductor 51 instead of on its end-face, it would not be conducted at all. This is .accomplished by means of the gable prism 53a.

The light image conductor Si may be introduced into examined part simultaneously with the intrascope. In some cases it is preferable to introduce my intrascope irst and then insert the image conductor 51 or 7d into intrascope. In some cases the gable prism 53a or the whole optical system 53 may be attached to the end-face 51a of the image conductor to malte one unit. The novel intrascope 5b may have the same construction of the other parts as was explained above and illustrated in FIGURES l, la and lb.

FIGURE 2 shows the novel introscope which comprises my novel image conductive system. The end-face 51a serves to receive the image. As was expiained above the image is projected on the end-face 51u by the optical system t3 and is at the same time demagnified to reduce the size of the image to the size of the cross-section of the image conductor Si. The image is conducted by the multiple fiexble fibers 52 which form the image conductor to thc end-face 5112. The image emerging from the end-face lib is projected by the optical system 54 on the television pick-up tube 55. If necessary the optical system Ed may bc of magnifying type to enlarge previously demagnilied image of the examined part. The television pick-up tube 55 may be of the novel type described and illustrated in FIGURES l, la and lb. It should be understood however that all types of television pick-up tubes can be used in `my intrascope in combination with image conductor 51. The television pick-up tube may be of conventional vacuum tube type. T he television pick-up tube may be of photomissive type, photoconductive type, or photovoltaic type. The television pick-up tube may be of velocity modulation type. The television pick-up tube may use fast or slow scanning electron beam. The novelty of the combination of my image conductor with my television pick-up system resides in the ablity of the intrascope provided with this combination to penetrate into locations which were inaccessible to my television pick-up system and to transmit said image from said inaccessible locations to the television pick-up tube. The television pick-up tube can then transmit the image to the outside of the examined part by means of coaxial cables and it can do it regardless of the distance between the television tube and the outside. The image conductor on the other hand is limited n the ability to conduct an image to the length of about l5 cm. because of prohibitive losses of light. Therefore the combination of the image conductor with a television tube represents an important improvement in the art of the examining recesses inaccessible to direct visualization or to conventional optical systems. It should be understood that my system will be also capable of producing color images. For this purpose the resolving color wheel 56a may be provided in front of the television camera 55. Instead of the color wheel an optical system may be provided which splits the image into two or three color images and projects said images on different parts of thc photocathodc. It should be understood therefore that my invention may use all types of television pick-up tubes which can produce color images.

I found that the image conductor 5l causes severe losses of light. This loss of light is dependent of the ll I length of the image conductor, on the number of bends and angle of 'said bends to which image conductor is subject in its passage to the examined part. I found that losses of light become prohibitive when the length of the conductor is about cm. In some examinations of the television pick-up tube cannot be `activated with the amount of iight available after the passage through the image conductor, because the optical system 54 disposed between the image conductor and the television pick-up tube causes an additional loss of 95% of useful light. In such cases I am using the embodiment of my invention shown in FIGURE 2a or 2b. In this modification of my invention the image conductor extends through the wall 55a of the pick-up tube 55 inside of the tube. The photoelectric photocathode 56 is now deposited on the end-face SIb of the image conductor. The photocathode 56 may be of the photoemissive type as shown in FIGURE 2o or photoconductive type as sho-wn in FIGURE 2b. In this construction the loss of light caused by the optical system 54 is completely eliminated which represents a thirty-fold increase in light available for the television pick-up tube and which makes the television pick-up tube now responsive to the image. The image conductor is cemented to the end wall 55a of the tube 55 by the vacuum type seal. In some cases it may -be preferable to provide a support for the light image conductor near the face 55a of the television tube to reduce the pull of the image conductor 5I against the wall of the pick-up tube.

Another modification of my intrascope is shown in FIGURE 3a. In this embodiment of invention the image conductor 5I has its end-face 51a adjacent to the distal end of the intrascope. The window 91 can be opened by mechanical means which are well known in the art and the end-face 5I@ of the image conductor 5I may be b-rought slightly forward. This will result in apposition of the image conductor with the examined part. In this embodiment of the invention the light source for illumination of the examined part may be provided at the proximal end 5111 of the image conductor. The light source 7a projects the light onto mirror which has the prorty for partly Ireecting and partly transmitting the light. Such mirrors are well known in the art and it is believed therefore that their detailed description is not necessary. The light reflected by the mirror 5S is conducted by the image conductor 5I to the examined part and forms an image thereof. This light is reflected next -by the examined part and returns again through the image conductor 5l to the outside. As the mirror 53 is halfrefiecting and half-transparent the image of the examined part can pass through the mirror 58 and be focused by the optical system on the photocathode of the television pick-up tube.

Another preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGURE 3. The intrascope in this modication consists of a rigid part 2, flexible part 2a and semiflexible tip 3. The mechanical construction of these parts is the same as described above and does not have to be repeated. The internal image producing and transmitting structures of the flexible part 2a are completely different. In particular the illuminating system 7 is replaced in this modification by the flying spot kinescope. The miniature flying spot kinescope 16a or 76 was shown in FIGURE 1 and is a vacuum tube provided with an electron gun Z3 producing a fine beam of electrons 29, with circuits 34kt and flb for defiecting said electron beam in two mutually perpendicular directions and also having a sc-reen 31 coated with a fluoresnt material. The electron gun consists of an electron emission source and an electron-optical system to focus the electrons into a fine beam. The fluorescent screen of the kinescope must be of a phosphor of a very short persistence in order to obtain a good resolution of image. ZnO phosphor has decay time of one microsecond and is suitable therefore for this purpose. Still better results will be 0btained by applying ZnS phosphor and -utilizing only the ultra-violet component of its fluorescent emission, which has the decay time of 1/10 microsecond. The electron beam of the kinescope has to scan the fluorescent screen in a predetermined pattern. This scanning motion of the electron beam is obtained by the electro-static or magnetic fields 30a or Sub, which produce deflection of said beam. This scanning electron beam 28 produces a scanning light spot which illuminates the examined part through window 12 and produces successive image points of said examined part. Successive image points are admitted through window 1Sv into intrascope and are projected by the optical `system I5 on the end-face of the image conductor 77. The image conductor 77 in this modification of my invention consists of a single rod of material, which is flexible and has a high index of refraction, such as Lucite, acrylic plastics, poly-styrenes or other materials. As was explained above, such materials cannot conduct an image. They can conduct a light signal only. In my novel device, the image is produced by a rapid succession of single image points. Each image point can be conducted by the conductor 77, because it represents only one signal. Each conducted image point, after it emerges from the conductor 77, is projected on a single or plural photo-tubes or photocells and is converted thereby into an electrical signal. If bl-ack Iand white image is sufi'icient, only one photo-tube 78 has to be used. The photo-tube converts, as was explained above, each light image point into an electrical signal. The successive electrical signals are conducted by fiexible coaxial cables 8l to the outside of the intrascope and of the examined part. These transmitted electrical signals are next fed into `appropriate receivers, such as kinescope, facsimile receivers or skiatrons, known also as a dark trace tube and are reconverted into a visible image for inspection or for photographic recording. In case a color image of the examined part is necessary, we may use two or three phototubes or photocells. The phototube 78a will serve to receive red image points; phototube 7S!) will serve to receive green image points, and phototube 7 8c will receive blue image points. A white light image point m-ay be split into its component colors by the use of suitable optical system. Dichroic mirrors 8f) are useful for this purpose. It should be understood, homever, that there are many optical means that can be used instead of said dichroic mirrors. In some cases, it is preferable to use, instead of dichroic mirrors, the rotating color disc 53a. The importance of this construction lies in the fact that I may use now one phototube or one photocell instead of three phototubes, which will markedly reduce the size of the intrascope. In this modification, the speed of the flying spot produced by the kinescope 76 has to be increased so that the whole examined tarea may be illuminated during the time in which one of three color filters of the disc 56 is in front of the single phototube 78. The rotating color wheel S6 may be set in motion by a miniature motor, such as used in electrical wrist watches, and which may be disposed within the intrascope. In `such a case, the color wheel may be mounted on the shaft of said motor. In some cases it is preferable to have the motor disposed outside of the examined part. In such event, the motor may be connected with the rotating disc 56 by means of flexible cables or the power may be transmitted from the motor to the disc by pneumatic means or hydraulic means. The pressure exerted by the motor or a column of air or fluid is propagated by said pneumatic or hydraulic means to the disc and will cause its rotation.

The rreproduction of c-olor images may be improved by having in front of each phototube or photocell 78a, 78h and 78C, suitable filters 79a, 7911 and 79C, which transmit only red, green and blue light respectively.

It should be understood that all types of phototubes or photocells may be used for purposes of my invention. In particular I may use phototubes of photoemissive aesaosv type, of photo-conductive type or photo-voltaic type. The photocells having silicon, germanium or -bismuth in combination with antimony or aluminum with antimony are most suitable because such photocells show high frequency response, which is necessary for the operation of my device. Also modiiied photo-transistors, which have a large photo-sensitive surface in contradistinction to the conventional ones, in which the photo-sensitive area is very small, may be used in my invention.

It may be added that when dealing with short distances, which do not cause a prohibitive loss of light, the light conductor 77 may extend to `the outside of the examined part and the image then may be examined directly without the need of conversion of light image points into electrical signals, as was explained above and illustrated in FIGURE 3. In such cases the image points which appear successively at the end face 77b of the ight conductor 77, may be projected by an optical lens and may be seen by the examiner directly because, due to the persistence of vision, the successive image points conducted by the conductor 77 will reproduce a total image in the retina of the examiner.

In some cases the light conductor 77 does not have to extend to the outside of the examined part, but it may be used in combination with an optical system, which will deliver the light image from the end-.face 77b of the conductor to the outside of the examined part. This arrangement is feasible only in locations in which the course of the examined passages between the end-face 77b of the c-onductor and the outside is well known in advance, so that a suitable optical system can be provided.

In some applications where the distance between the examined part and the outside is small also the image conductor which consists of plurality of fibers conducting light may be used without a television system. This embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGURE 4. The light image produced by the light source 7 is conducted iby the image conductor 70 to the outside where it can be examined visually, recorded or photographed. In some eases the light conductor '70 does not have to extend to the outside of the examined part because the course of the examined part becomes straight. In this event it is preferable to combine the light image conductor with an additional optical system which will pro ject the image from the intrascope to the outside of the examined part.

Another embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGURE in which the light source is disposed outside of the examined part and is projected onto the end-face of the image conductor 76 by the half-reflecting and halftransparent mirror 58, as was explained above.

The light image of the examined part which is transmitted by the image conductor 70 to the outside in some cases may be too Weak for visual inspection and may lrequire dark adaption of the eyes. In such cases the image will be also t-oo weak for photographing. For such examinations I made a modificati-on of my invention which is shown in FIGURE 6. In this embodiment of my invention the image conductor 7i) is inserted into vacuum tube 60 through its wall 60a. The photo-cathode 61 of the vacuum tube which may be of photoemissive type or photoconductive type is deposited on the end face 51b of the image conductor. The 'light emerging from the end-face 51b can now excite the photo-cathode 61 as the optical system is eliminated, which as was explained is causing a prohibitive loss of light. The electrons emitted from the photo-cathode 61 are imaged by magnetic or electrostatic lenses 64 and are focused on the iluorescent screen 62 disposed at the other end of the tube and protected by the light-reflecting layer 62:: such as of aluminum. The electron image may be also intensitied by accelerating tields 64. Furthermore it may be intensified by electron-optical diminution which results in an increase in intensity proportional to the square power of linear demagnication.

This may be accomplished by means of electro magnetic 63 or electrostatic lenses 64, rIlhe electrostatic lenses may be in the form of series of cylinders or rings of progressively smaller diameter. They are disposed inside of the tube and are connected to an outside source of potential. The magnetic or electromagnetic lenses may be in the form of coils surrounding the tube from outside. Such coils may be tapered or may be in the form ot a short coil extending from some point between the photocathode 61 and the tiuorescent screen 62, up to said uorescent screen 62. The intensified image which ap pears on the fluorescent screen can be inspected visually by the observer directly or may be first magniiied by an optical eye-piece 64a. The optical magnification of the electron-optically diminished image does not result in its loss of brightness as long as said magnification does not exceed certain limits. In this way the intensiiieation of the image obtained by means of electro-optical diminution is not lost although the image is magnified again optically. Therefore the image of the examined part which was too weak for examination can now be presented with necessary brightness.

The use of the image tube 60 may also be necesary when using as an image forming radiation an invisible radiation such as ultra-violet or infra-red. In cases of which the preservation of light is not critical it may be possible to project the image emerging from end-face 5117 of the image conductor 7i) on the photocathodc 61 of the image tube by optical means. In cases in which the definition of reproduced image is not important, the end-f face 51!) of the image conductor 71 may be attached to the end-tace of the image tube to be in tight apposition to the external surface of the image tube 60. The thickness of the wall of the image tube 6G which separates the endface 51b of the image conductor from the photocathode 61 will cause however a marked blurring of the image. The image tube may be also advantageously used within the intrascope in order to intensify the weak image emerging from the end-face of the image conductor be fore it is being projected on the television pick-up tube. In this embodiment `the image tube has to be of miniature size. This can be accomplished by eliminating focusing electrodes and bringing the photocathode 61 very close to the iiuorescent image reproducing screen 62 to prevent blurring of electron image.

In some cases it is preferable to use as the light 7a or for illumination of the examined part a polarized light. The image conducted by the image conductor to the observer is not polarized any more due to multiple reflections. Therefore by providing means which will stop the polarized light from reaching the observer but will transmit the nonpolarized light, the contrast of the examined part will be markedly improved. This construction is Of critical importance in devices in which the light for illumination of the examined part has to be delivered to the examined part `by the same image conductor which serves to return the image to the observer. There are many ways in the art to eliminate the polarized light. FIGURE 5 shows one of the means suitable for the purpose of this invention. The rotating prism 59 serves to stop the polarized light from the source 65 and it will :at the same time transmit the non-polarized light. The resulting improvement in contrast will make my device operative in many cases in which without this irnprovement it would not be feasible to examine the received image.

It should be clearly understood that all my intrascopes can serve and produce and transmit color images as well.

It is also to be understood that in some applications the encasing means for the image conductor or for pickup tube may be omitted.

My invention is not limited to visible light images. All my intrascopes may be made responsive to invisible images on either side of visible spectrum by using appropriate photosensitive layer in the photocathode of the television pick-up tube. It is to be understood that all my intrascopes may serve for receiving images formed not only by various electromagnetic radiations such as ultra-violet, infra-red, etc., but also by particles radiation such as neutrons, alpha-particles, protons, electrons or by ions. In such cases the photocathode of the pick-up tube described above may be provided with an atomic particles -sensitive phosphor on the side facing said image, or may have a special electron or other atomic particles emissive photocathode.

The embodiment of my invention illustrated in FIG- URE may be also modified by using instead of the image conductor 70, which consists of plural fibers 52, the conductor 77, which consists yof one solid rod of material conducting light, as was explained above. In order to make this modification operative, I found that the source of light must be -able to produce a scanning light illumination. Therefore, instead of the electrical bulb 65 I am using in this embodiment of my invention the fiying spot of light produced .by a vacuum tube 16a or 76, as was described above. The remaining parts of my device may be the same as shown in FIGURE 5.

I also found that the novel image conductors 51, 70 or 77 may transmit not only white light but also infrared light and ultra-violet light. It is to be understood therefore that the term light as used in my disclosure embraces the visible light as well as the invisible.

Another important discovery was that supersonic waves -can be Ialso conducted by ther conductors 5I, 70 or 77. By using as a source of image forming radiation piezoelectric or magnetostrictive means, We may produce supersonic images of the examined part. Piezoelectric means may be in the form of oscillating crystals of quartz, titanate compounds, Rochelle salts and other simil-ar materials.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. A device for illumination comprising in combination a source of radiation and a bundle having plu-rality of individual fibers for conducting said radiation and operating by internal reflection of said radiation within said bers, said 'bundle being disposed in cooperative relationship with said source of radiation and the proximal end of said bundle receiving said radiation from said source, essentially all vof said fibers being provided with coating means having a lower index of refraction than said fibers, said coating spacing each of said fibers from adjacent fibers and being independent from the coating of adjacent fibers at least along the major part of their length, said bundle transporting said radiation along said fibers and said radiation emerging from distal end of said bundle to provide the illumination, in said device, furthermore, said radiation source being spaced apart from said proximal end of said bundle receiving said radiation.

2. A device as defined in claim l in which said bers are xed in relationship to each other only at the ends of said bundle.

3. A device as defined in claim 1, in which said coating means are light opaque.

4. A device for illumination comprising in combination a source of radiation and fiexible bundle having a plurality of individual flexible and solid fibers for conducting said radiation and operating by internal reflection of said radiation within said fibers, said bundle being disposed in cooperative relationship with said source of radiation and the proximal end of said bundle receiving said radiation from said source, essentially all of said fibers provided with their own coating means having a lower index of refraction than said fibers and of the thickness not exceeding a few microns, said coating spacing each of said fibers from adjacent fibers and being independent from the coating of adjacent fibers at least along the major part of their length, said bundle transporting said radiation along said fibers and said radiation emerging from the distal end of said bundle to provide the illumination, in said device, furthermore, said radiationsource being spaced -apart from said proximal end yof said bundle receiving said radiation.

5. A device as defined in claim 4, in which said fibers are fixed in relationship to each other only at the ends of said bundle.

6. A device as defined in claim 4, which comprises in addition binding means for maintaining said fibers in a fixed relationship to each other, said binding means being mounted only at `the ends of said bundle and in which device said coating means are light opaque.

7. A device for illumination and for transmission of radiation comprising in combination a source of radiation for illumination of an examined object and a flexible bundle having a plurality of individual solid fibers for conducting said radiation reflected from said object and operating by internal refiection of said radiation within said fibers, said bundle being disposed in cooperative relationship with said reflected radiation and the proximal end of said bundle receiving said reflected radiation from said object, essentially all of said fibers being provided with their own coating means having a lower index of refraction than said fibers and of the thickness not exceeding a few microns, said coating spacing each of said fibers from adjacent fibers and being independent fromthe coating of adjacent fibers at least along the major part of their length, said bundle transporting said refiected :radiation along said fibers and said radiation emerging from the distal end of said bundle, in said device, furthermore, said radiation source being spaced apart from said proximal end of said bundle receiving said reflected radiation.

8. A device as defined in claim 7, in which essentially all of said fibers are fixed in relationship to each other only at the ends of said bundle and in which device said .fibers are mounted for transmission of images.

9. A device as claimed in claim 7, which comprises in addition binding means for maintaining the ends of essentially all said fibers in a fixed relationship to each other, said binding means being mounted only at the ends of said bundle, and in which device said fibers are mounted for transmission of images.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,848,814 3/1932 Allen 95-l.l 2,354,591 7/1944 Goldsmith l78-7.85 3,068,772 12/1962 Nac Neille.

NORTON ANSI-IER, Primary Examiner.

C. R. RHODES, Assistant Examiner.

Disclaimer 3,286,087.Edward E. Sheldon, New York, N Y. DEVICE FOR ILLUMINA- TION. Patent dated Nov. l5, 1966. Disclaimer led Apr. 30, 1979, by the inventor.

The term of this patent subsequent to Oct 18, 1983 has been disclaimed.

[Official Gazette September 14, 1982.] 

1. A DEVICE FOR ILLUMINATION COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A SOURCE OF RADIATION AND A BUNDLE HAVING PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL FIBERS FOR CONDUCTING SAID RADIATION AND OPERATING BY INTERNAL REFLECTION OF SAID RADIATION WITHIN SAID FIBERS, SAID BUNDLE BEING DISPOSED IN COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID SOURCE OF RADIATION AND THE PROXIMAL END OF SAID BUNDLE RECEIVING SAID RADIATION FROM SAID SOURCE, ESSENTIALLY ALL OF SAID FIBERS BEING PROVIDED WITH COATING MEANS HAVING A LOWER INDEX OF REFRACTION THAN SAID FIBERS, SAID COATING SPACING EACH OF SAID FIBERS FROM ADJACENT FIBERS AND BEING INDEPENDENT FROM THE COATING OF ADJACENT FIBERS AT LEAST ALONG THE MAJOR PART OF THEIR LENGTH, SAID BUNDLE TRANSPORTING SAID RADIATION ALONG SAID FIBERS AND SAID RADIATION EMERGING FROM DISTAL END OF SAID BUNDLE TO PROVIDE THE ILLUMINATION, IN SAID DEVICE, FURTHERMORE, SAID RADIATION SOURCE BEING SPACED APART FROM SAID PROXIMAL END OF SAID BUNDLE RECEIVING SAID RADIATION. 